Make Your Own Holiday Decorations

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Wreaths, garlands, valance hangings and table decorations, graced with velvet ribbons and fruits and leaves of the season, are easy-to-make glories during the holiday season.

Like giving certain flowers to imply messages (love with a white rose or remembrance with forget-me-nots), you can decorate your wreath or hanging with items that are especially meaningful to you. If you're giving it to a friend, include items of special significance to the two of you to make it all the more a treasure. It can commemorate a special day or event, or it can just celebrate your camaraderie.

In ancient Rome, circular wreaths were symbols of victory and celebration. In 16th century Germany, fir or spruce wreaths were laid flat on a table with a candle lit on the first Sunday of Advent. Today, the wreath symbolizes continuity and tradition.

Evergreen boughs brought indoors by Druids were honored as sacred plants that didn't die, allowing the house to survive the winter. Primitive tribes in Europe hung evergreens above their doors during the winter solstice to offer woodland spirits shelter. They hoped that this would bring good fortune and health. Today's garlands continue to brighten our door and window sills, mantels and tables.

Your creation can be as simple as a bunch of your favorite herb branches tied with a ribbon, or as complex as a large and intricate wreath embellished with many sentimental items from a person's lifetime. It can be fancy or plain and worked on for weeks or completed on the spur of the moment. It all depends on what you want and what materials you have collected.

Materials can encompass anything you have access to, such as grapevine trimmings off the back fence and herb sprigs from the kitchen garden to pine cones from an excursion in the foothills. A great way to find unexpected goodies is to wander the aisles in a craft store, trying different combinations of textures and colors and seeing what strikes your fancy. Matching ribbons and other bits and pieces to friends' personalities is always great fun.

Looking at "ordinary" items in a new way can also reveal many possibilities. Green and red bell peppers add holiday cheer to a wreath on the front door. An oddly curled Armenian cucumber or long-necked squash becomes decoration in a table arrangement. A tree ornament becomes special when it's the only one on a wreath hung on child's door. Anything and everything becomes fair game for decorating. It's all up to your cleverness and sense of humor.

Materials to consider for the wreath or garland base

A whole sunflower head with the central stem portion removed, forming a "donut"
Dried sphagnum moss (the long stringy kind, not milled)
Eucalyptus foliage
Evergreen clippings (pine, spruce, holly, redwood, cedar, osmanthus and juniper)
Forsythia branches (young)
Grapevines
Hay
Herb foliage (bay laurel, coriander, sage, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, basil, lavender and pennyroyal)
Honeysuckle trimmings
Magnolia leaves
Olive branches (young)
Pinecones
Raffia
Straw
Styrofoam flat shapes or balls
Willow branches (young, peeled to reveal blond-colored wood)
Wisteria trimmings